Great December article in Washington Post about measuring Ed Schools in Louisiana.

Through an initiative that Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls a model for the nation, Louisiana has become the first state to tie student test scores into a chain of evaluation that reaches all the way to teacher colleges. Those that fail to perform on this new metric someday could face shake-ups or, in extreme cases, closure.

"It's accountability on steroids," said E. Joseph Savoie, president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Closure. Happened to medical schools. Between 1910 and 1935, half of all medical schools merged or closed.

Why? Abraham Flexner. He published a report in 1910. He ripped the existing schools. For example, he described Chicago's 14 medical schools as "a disgrace to the State whose laws permit its existence... indescribably foul... the plague spot of the nation." Flexner could get all huffy.

Lots of good things happened because of that report.

Unfortunately, there were some side effects. Shortages were created by hiking the bar. And those shortages didn't affect everyone directly. Women were elbowed out of the now much smaller number of med school slots. Sorry, Pru. Also med schools that served poor and black communities were shut. Sorry, communities like that.

Would that happen if bad Ed Schools were shut down? I don't think so. But you'd want to keep your eye on it.

I've been involved with Match Education for about 12 years — for seven years as a board member and as CEO since 2011. Before joining Match, I started and ran the Newark Charter School Fund and taught education stuff at Harvard Business School (odd but true). Way back, I was a dot-com entrepreneur. My first job in education, at 23, was as an assistant principal in a catholic school in Harlem.

We do four things here. We run a public K12 charter school in Boston (Match Charter School). We run a graduate school of education that prepares rookie teachers for work in high-need schools (Sposato GSE). We run an alternative college and jobs program for low-income students (Match Beyond). And we share our ideas and practices with the world (Match Export).

Assorted personal facts: I moved to New Jersey from Denmark when I was nine (the Danish part explains my weird name). Upon arrival, I learned English by watching television. I have three brothers. My wife and I have three daughters. The first thing on my mind when I wake up every day is espresso - I really like it. I also watch a lot of soccer on tv. I think it's the greatest sport in the world and a force for world peace.